the old page count q

I guess everyone on this board is pissed about format/page count questions. I'm sorry, but I've got to have your opinions on this. I tried to keep my pages to a minimum but... now the script is 126 pages. And I have already cut everything unnecessary. If I cut more it'll affect the whole story, the characters, etc, etc. Given that the standard is maximum 120 pages, is there a possibility that my thriller won't be taken seriously? Anyone had the same problem? How did you solve it? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

The page counts are suggestions. 126 rather than 120 won't make too much of a difference. Those suggestions are aimed at people who think they are going to get someone to seriously consider a 60 or 150 page spec. Have you had other writers read your script? They would probably be able to point out things that can be cut, that you think are necessary. If, in the end, you've cut all that can be cut, you should be fine at 126. If it was a comedy, you'd be in trouble. Thriller, probably okay.

Everyone on this board is pissed about format/page count questions, but I need your opinions. I tried to keep my pages to the standard 120 pages, but the script is 126. If I cut more it'll affect the whole story, the characters, etc, etc. Is there a possibility my thriller won't be taken seriously? How do you solve this problem? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

There's an easy way: identify the scenes you love best and think are most effective -- and delete them.

Aim for 110 pages -- or less.

-Derek

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One of the many reasons you should never listen to dpat ~PipeWriter

What Brad said. Look at each paragraph and make sure that you are as economic with your words as possible.

Also try and cut as many widows (a single word that hangs down to the next line) as you can.

Thanks to all of you.

"Aim for 110 pages -- or less"

I want to but it really wouldn't work. It would also HURT.

Anyone who says they have cut all that can be cut hasn't really tried to cut at all. You are pruning it with tweezers like it was a banzai tree, you should be hacking it with a chainsaw like it was a dead redwood.

Combine, compress, edit and cut.

Any time I get a script with more than 115-120 pages I expect to find bloated writing or unnecessary scenes. Usually I'm right. Unless the first 5-10 pages are VERY tight, I quickly lose confidence in the writer's ability not to be boring.

It's hard to believe you can't delete anything without losing the thread of the story. If you can't get rid of whole scenes, look at each secene one-by-one. Ask yourself what the audience needs to learn from the scene. Leave that part in, get rid of the rest.

One thing I see a lot is dialogue that meanders because the writer wants to convey more than one idea in a scene, and has to steer the dialogue between each idea. If you have a scene with more than two pages of dialogue, see if you can break it up into two half-page scenes.

If you truly have a story that can't be told in less than 126 pages, save it for after you're famous. Stories that sell can usually be told in 110 pages or less.

Author, I am not sick of the question that you asked. But if I were to be upset about something, it would be the contention that nearly always accompanies that question. Everyone laments, "I have cut everything that I can!"

I have never seen a script on this board or on Zoetrope that did not have extraneous descriptions, parentheses, commentaries, or some other kind of junk.

So you might look at the script again.

I am looking at the script, Comic Bent. I guess, I'll have to cut a lot more than I feel is necessary. But I didn't write it to enjoy it myself, right? Thanks again, guys, you are great help.